TWD Season 5x16 Alternate: A New Family
by lanie-love09
Summary: Hi, I wrote this as a back plan in case, the real TWD 5x16 doesn't pan out the way I would've liked to see the Rick and Michonne relationship to unfold this season.


Rick's eyes suddenly pop open as he hears the sounds of someone going through the drawers in his bedroom. He's only able to lift his head a few inches off the pillow before he feels an intensely heavy pain in the back of his head.

Clinching his eyes shut form the pain, he lays his head back down on the pillow momentarily then slowly sits up to see who is in his room slamming the dresser drawers.

While touching the back of his head he looks over at Carl who's stuffing the contents of the drawer in to a knapsacks…angrily.

Still groggy Rick asks, "Carl, what are you doing?"

Carl shoots a vindictive glare at his father for even asking, then he returns to the job at hand, "Michonne said to pack up your stuff so we can get ready to leave Alexandria."

A deep sigh escapes Rick's lips as he starts to remember what happened earlier he looks down at his bloodied constable uniform regrettably.

After slamming the last drawer closed; Carl walks over to the closet and begins to search for items to pack pauses; then leans his head out of the closet to look at his father, "What's been going on with you these past few weeks? And I saw what you did at the party, I saw you kiss Ron's Mom on the cheek. Why did you do that?"

Rick rolls his eyes in an effort to brush off Carl's question, "It-it was nothing Carl, I was just thanking her for bringing Judith back to me…it didn't mean anything."

"Really Dad? That's your answer? Because I've never seen you kiss Michonne, Maggie, Carol or any other females that hands Judith back to you like that before."

Carl glances out the window then shamefully looks of his father and sucks his teeth before saying, "Don't…uh…uh…", Carl pauses to think of the word he's looking for, "…patronize me Dad! We were safe here we could've had a home here before you went all psycho cop. I even tried to stop you but, you shoved me to the ground.

Then you pull a gun out and start pointing it at everyone; your face covered in blood, going on with some crazy rant. It's a good thing that Michonne knock you out with that brick before you accidentally shot someone!"

Before Carl goes back in the closet he tells him, "All you had to do was stop looking for a problem and we could've actually stayed here. Now, we have to go back out _there_."

Rick looks at his teenaged son; shocked that he used the word "patronize" perfectly and also because he was right, he actually did ruin their chances of living a somewhat normal life in this world.

The two of them hear Judith waking up on the baby monitor. Carl stops rummaging through the closet to listen, then angrily goes back to packing his father stuff.

Rick stands slowly and walks over to grab the baby monitor off the dresser; he looks down at the baby monitor screen while continuing to rub the back of his head.

He does a half smile at Judith's video in the monitor, "Carl…".

Carl comes out of the closet and Rick hands him the video monitor, "….check on your sister. She's probably hungry and I'll finish packing."

He gives his father a pissed off look, drops the knapsack and storm out the room.

* * *

Michonne sits on the edge of her bed watching the sun as it slowly loses it everyday battle with the night.

She didn't know if Rick was gonna be upset with her actions from earlier; she wasn't sure if Rick wanted her around Carl and Judith anymore; nor was she sure about finding another place like Alexandria.

There were only two things that was holding her together at the moment; the two things that had yet to disappoint her before and after the outbreak.

The majestic colors of the sun rising and the sun setting. It was the only constant that never let her down when it came to _wanting_ to survive.

She leans forward while sitting and places her head in her hands; simply dreading having to live on the road again.

The only thing that would be worse to her was if she had to be out there alone; and the thought of being out there without "a friend" frightened her.

* * *

After putting a clean pair of jeans and a white undershirt; Rick slips on the same, terribly worn boots that he wore when the group first arrived in Alexandria.

He warily stands up and walks over to the dresser but this time he stares at his swollen face in the dresser mirror; taking the time to observe the many small bandages riddled all over his face from the fight he had with Pete Anderson earlier while continuing to rub the knot on the back of his head.

He didn't want anyone to have to leave Alexandria because of his actions; especially Carl and Judith.

There was only one way to fix the mess he created.

* * *

Michonne lifts her head out of her hands and sits up straight after hearing a knock on her bedroom door.

"Come in."

Only slightly surprised to see Rick opening her bedroom door, Michonne quickly stands up and grabs her satchel from off the bed then immediately begins to grab clothes out of the dresser drawers. She stops packing only to say in a low annoyed voice "How's your head," she goes back to shoving clothes in her satchel.

Rick wants to tell her how grateful he is that she knocked him on his ass but, at the moment all he wanted to do was to stop her from packing.

He closes the bedroom door behind him and walks closer to Michonne, "Listen, I wanna talk to you about earlier…"

She stops in mid walk toward the next dresser and looks down at the floor, "Rick you were scaring everyone, you were scaring Carl…", looking in to his swollen face she says, "…you were scarring me."

While continuing to pack, she tells him, "…someone had to stop your madness."

Stepping in front of her determined packing path he grabs her wrist to stop her and gives a consolation smile, "Thank you, if you thought it had to be done then, I'm glad that it was you who did it."

Michonne grins a little bit as Rick attempts to make light her actions from earlier, she quickly moves around him, "Well you'd better get packing I'm pretty sure that they'll want us out of here by morning."

Rick walks away from the Michonne as he attempts to come up with the right way to say what he has to,

"I think I know of a way that they will allow everyone to stay." He announces.

She stops in mid packing again but, this time she purses her lips and shakes head no.

"Uh, uh….no way. You know that is not going down so don't even think about saying it", she tells him, "I know you think it would be for the best…", she closes her eye in retrospect of when she left her family, "…believe me Rick the last thing you wanna do is to leave your kids some place where _you_ think they'll be safe."

Walking over to her closet to grabs another knapsack she goes on to say, "You don't want to know what that feels like, so we all go or we all stay. I-I can't stand by and watch this world break up another family again, I can't, I won't!"

He walks over and gently grabs her arm; stopping her from moving anywhere else in the room.

He picks up on the panic in her voice, "I know, I get it and it won't as long as the three of you are here."

Michonne's eyes fill with water, "Rick…I'm no substitute for a parent; I couldn't even…" she turns away from Rick; closing her eyes hoping to maintain, hoping that her stoic heart doesn't give way to the deeper sadness buried inside.

The shedding of one tear, opens the flood gate for many more as a mother finally sobs over the loss of her 2 year old son.

Pulling Michonne in close; Rick wraps his arms around her; hugging her tightly while stoking almond oil locs.

He whispers in her ear, "I overheard you telling Carl about it right before we hopped the fence in to Terminus", Rick feels the sting of tears in his eyes as Michonne's grief over Andre' washes over his entire body.

All he wanted was to release her of this dreadful pain that may never go away.

"…I kept waiting and waiting for you to tell me", he pulls her from his shoulder in order to look her in the face.

He uses his calloused thumbs to wipe away her tears, "…but you never did."

She goes to look away but, he prevents her from turning away because he knew she needed this place and he knew she needed to hear this, "That wasn't your fault. I know you already know this on some level but…you're trying to somehow justify that pain you've been carrying so blaming yourself makes the pain easier to live with. When all it really does is stop you from finding contentment."

The tears in her eyes ignites a light in Rick that leads him to sadly chuckle and reveal, "You and I are the same; the only difference is that, you know that you already know to hold out as long as you can to see the good. You knocking me out help me to realize that. Whatever is going on here, no matter how fuck up it really is…it's still better than trying to survive out there.

And you telling Carl to pack in case they decide to kick me out proves that I've brought you back down to my way of thinking…and I can't have that."

Michonne, irritated by Rick's rational for leaving Carl and Judith in Alexandria, ignores Rick's plea for her to stay with them; reaches her hands to remove his from her face, "Grimes, I'm not gonna let you break up a fami…".

Before either one knew it, Rick did something that he knows should've happened the moment Michonne found them in that house after the fall of the prison.

The kiss is like a drug to Michonne; with her head swirling; suddenly the door to her empty apartment of heart; had joy knocking at the it's door.

Because a kiss such as this, was the one thing she was sure she'd never feel again in her life.

As they slow pulls away from their first kiss; Rick softly places his forehead hers; closes his eyes then open them to look in to hers, "I'm not breaking up a family. **_We_** are making a new one."


End file.
